Session 1
Jay Wolf
Dr. Jay Wolf served as the Pastor of First Baptist of Montgomery, Alabama since 1991 and following retirement in 2020, he is the Pastor Emeritus. The Georgetown, Texas, native attended Baylor University along with New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for his Masters and Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, for his Doctor of Ministry.
Jay and his wife Mary Ruth have been blessed with four Christ-following children and six treasured grandchildren. Jay is an avid outdoorsman and has been blessed to travel in 61 countries to engage in a wide variety of Christian mission enterprises on 5 continents. He was Recognized as “Alabama’s Minister of the Year” by Samford University, “Distinguished Alumni” by New Orleans Baptist Seminary, and “Family of the Year” in Montgomery. In 2019 Dr. Wolf was the Recipient of Montgomery’s Martin Luther King’s “Beloved Community” Award as a Leader who upholds and advances Dr. King’s ideals of justice, equality, and Christian Unity.
Jay has served as a leader on many boards and Christian organizations including: the International Mission Board, Samford University, the Baptist Healthcare Systems of Central Alabama, The Baptist Foundation of Alabama, Children’s Hope for Haiti, and Governor Ivey’s Coronavirus Task Force along with the 2020 Census effort entitled: “Alabama Counts.”
Jay’s ultimate purpose and passion is to serve Christ as a Kingdom entrepreneur.
Session 2
Jarman Leatherwood
Pastor Leatherwood currently serves as the Pastor of House of Hope and Restoration in Huntsville, AL. He also serves in a variety of other roles including as a Congregational Wellness Strategist for the Etowah Baptist Convention, Catalyst and Coach with a focus on church planting for the Alabama State Board of Missions, Member of the Assessment Team for Church Planting for ALSBOM, President of the Pastors' Conference for Madison Baptist Association, and Instructor for Samford University's Ministry Training Institute.
Session 3
Kevin Hamm
Dr. Kevin Hamm has been the Senior Pastor of Gardendale First Baptist Church in Gardendale, Alabama since April 2006. GFBC is committed to passionate worship and anointed preaching of God's Holy Word. The church is consumed with taking the Good News of Jesus across the street and around the world and is consistently among the state leaders in baptisms. Pastor Kevin often says, "God blesses a church that will worship Him in spirit and truth. Celebrative, passionate worship combined with Biblical, anointed preaching is a match made in Heaven!"
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He previously served nine years as the Senior Pastor of Valley View Church in Louisville, Kentucky which grew dramatically under his leadership. Pastor Kevin has the unique ability to hold an audience's attention by communicating God's Word with tremendous clarity and enthusiastic passion. His preaching schedule includes Evangelism Conferences in Oklahoma, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi.
Pastor Kevin has served on the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention and as President of the Alabama Baptist Pastor's Conference. His articles have been published in Growing Churches, Leadership and Leader Life. He has his B.A. from Western Kentucky University, M. Div. from MidAmerica Theological Seminary and Doctor of Ministry degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He married his wife, Kim, in 1987 and they have three daughters: Lindsey, Lauren and Kayla.
Session 4
Jeremy Morton
Jeremy and his wife, Carrie are lifelong Georgia residents who were church planters in the central part of the state for many years. Since the fall of 2018, Jeremy has been serving as the lead pastor at First Baptist Church Woodstock. Previously, he was the senior pastor of Cartersville First Baptist Church for five years. Jeremy also served as senior pastor at Cross Point Baptist Church in Perry, Georgia since its inception in 2002.
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He has been preaching since the age of 16. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Christianity from Brewton Parker College in 2004, a Master of Divinity in Biblical Studies from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 2007, and a Doctorate of Ministry in Expository Preaching from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in May 2022.
Jeremy’s hobbies include sports, reading, enjoying nature, and spending time with family. Pastor Jeremy’s life purpose statement: “I aim to glorify God by being a faithful husband, supportive father, loyal friend, and loving leader.” Jeremy and Carrie are the proud parents of Zeke, Madie, and Abe.
The Mortons believe God’s call upon their family is to immerse themselves in the local church. They have a clear passion for people and their community. Their earnest prayer is for God’s glory to be displayed in their personal and public life as a family.
Breakout session
josh carter
Josh and Amy Carter are originally from East Tennessee. Josh currently serves on The North American Mission Board as the Director of church planting for SEND Network Nevada. They have 4 children, Grayson (12), Annabelle(10), Mallorie (8), and Avery (4). Josh is a graduate of Southern Seminary and served as a staff pastor for over 10 years in upper East-Tennessee. Josh and Amy moved west and were a part of Hope Church in Las Vegas, NV where Josh served as a church planting resident under Pastor Vance Pitman in 2013. While in Las Vegas, God birthed a passion and vision to plant churches in the West. After serving at Hope and many years prior to that of serving in multiple pastoral roles, Josh and Amy had the great privilege of moving to Portland, Oregon to plant Remedy City Church. God did some amazing things and Remedy continues to reach people and make disciples in the Northwest today. In 2021, Josh and Amy received the God-given call and opportunity to move back to Las Vegas, what he calls “the doorway to the west,” to mobilize churches to collaborate in planting churches throughout the region. What God has done and is doing in Las Vegas and throughout the whole state of Nevada is incredible.
Wednesday Morning Session
Lance Sumner
Lance has been a pastor and in ministry for over fifteen years and joined Crossroads Church in fall 2022.
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Lance has served churches in a multitude of capacities including roles as a deacon, youth pastor, associate pastor, and for nine+ years, a senior pastor. With this extensive experience, Lance desires to see the church be and become the church by making disciples through church revitalization.
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Lance firmly believes in walking with and beside other pastors to help guide their churches in the mission of making disciples. His passion is being a disciple of Christ who disciples others. Lance realizes one of the loneliest positions is being a pastor. He wants to come alongside other pastors who have a desire to make disciples and build them up. Lance’s life verses are Romans 12:1-2, and his deepest desire is to see the church transformed for God by equipping the church to accomplish and fulfill its mission.
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Lance is a graduate of Luther Rice Seminary with a MA in Leadership and MDiv. Lance and his wife, Karen, have two young children, Jonathan (9) and Harper Grace (1). He and his family live in Senoia, GA. Previously before going into ministry, Lance served honorably in the United States Army as a Biological Research Specialist.
